Baco-Beans

I can hear you all now, 'What are Baco-Beans?'. Well, I will tell you my friends. Served as an entree the combo of the crispy bacon mixed with the nutritious beans and rice, they become a delicious dish that never fails to end in clean plates at my house. This recipe is not entirely shelf stable, but I feel sure that you could switch out the fresh bacon with some bacon flavored TVP and not notice too much of a difference.

Baco-Beans

Cooking time: 20-25 min

Feeds 4

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon

2-15.5 cans black eyed peas

half of a large onion chopped

3-4 garlic cloves minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 cups uncooked rice

4 cups water

Place rice and water in a sauce pan and cook according to manufacturers directions. While the rice is cooking, slice the raw bacon into one inch pieces and cook in 12-inch skillet until crispy. Pull the bacon out of the pan and set aside to drain. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the bacon grease, set the pan back on the stove on medium-high heat and add in the onion and the garlic. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and saute until softened. Open the cans of black eyed peas, and pour contents into skillet along with the onion and the garlic. DON'T DRAIN THE PEAS! Stir occasionally for a few minutes until slightly thickened. Turn off the stove and stir in the bacon. Serve warm over the rice.

Feel free to serve a crunchy crust bread along side to sop up any extra sauce that might be lingering on your plate. Nutritious and for the most part, healthy.

If You Can't Take the Wheat, Get Out of the Kitchen!

These really yummy Whole Wheat Muffins are a variation of the recipe I was given. It is entirely shelf stable.

Whole Wheat Muffins:

Makes 12 muffins

Pre-heat oven to 350°

Grease muffin tin

Ingredients List:

Dry Team

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup powdered milk

enough powdered egg to make one egg. Follow your manufacturers instructions.

Whisk dry team in a medium bowl until well blended. In a separate bowl, assemble the wet team.

Wet Team

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup water plus enough for the egg

Mix wet team and add to the dry team, mix until blended with no lumps. Batter may seem "runny". Spoon or pour into greased muffin tin, two-thirds up sides. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until a tooth-pick inserted comes out clean.

These are wonderful all on their own, but for variation; just before baking, try sprinkling on chopped walnuts, or craisins, or oats, or even (dare I say it?) mini chocolate chips!

Think Outside The Tortilla

Becci brought this one two months ago, and I am just now getting her recipe. The original one calls for ground beef as you will see, but, she chose not to use it, and made it completely shelf stable.

Taco Soup

Becci R.

1 pound ground beef

1 can kernel corn

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion

2 cans kidney beans

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

1 can diced chiles

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

In medium sauce pan, brown ground beef with the onions; drain. Stir in the taco seasoning and all of the canned ingredients. Let simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve immediately with fritos and sour cream

Sweet as Pie

Pinto Beans and Pecan Pie have never really been synonymous but with these two recipes I hope that your food storage desserts will be just a little bit sweeter.

Pinto Bean Pie - With Pecans

Lisa D.

1 cup unseasoned pinto beans, cooked or canned

1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar

4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter or margarine (do not use "light substitutes)

4 large eggs, beaten

2 Tb molasses or dark corn syrup

2 tps. vanilla extract

1/2 tps. salt (table)

1 9-inch pastry pie shell (you could make your own, but this is a lot easier)

1/2 cup chopped pecans for the topping

Whipped topping

Cook unseasoned beans (if not using canned) in water until they are soft (about 45 mins to an hour) then cool and drain. For canned, drain and measure. Mash the beans. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the vanilla, molasses, salt and eggs. Then add the beans and mix well. Pour into pie shell, and top with the pecans. Bake in 350 ° F oven for 45 to 60 mins. until a knife inserted into the pie comes out clean. Cool and cut. Serve with whipped topping.

Really Good Bean Pie

Nicole T.

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs - beaten

1 heaping cup of mashed pinto beans

1 9 - inch pie shell (once again you can make your own, but this is a lot easier)

Whipped Topping

In a mixing bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Then mix in the beans. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake at 375 ° for twenty minutes, then lower the temp to 350° for another 20 minutes. Cool and serve with whipped topping.

Welcome!

Welcome to Pirates of the Pantry. Where pantry savvy gourmands meet to get the best recipes and food storage tips that can be found. I will post only the recipes that I find to be the best of the best. The recipes are based off of the rules that the ingredients are either all shelf stable or are mostly shelf stable. I will post occasionally thru out the month, so try the recipes and the tips and let me know what you think.